W
L
THE TALBOT RESTAURANT
by Nicky Rigby-Smith & Si Hall
Set back from Talbot Road in the suburbs of Oxton, the
Talbot Bar and Restaurant is located within the Riverhill
Hotel. Situated in elegant private gardens, the Talbot offers
something for everyone, with a lunchtime menu, early diner
menu served from 4-6pm and the evening A’ la Carte menu.
Recently refurbished, the restaurant is contemporary, spacious
and airy in tranquil surroundings.
Wirral Life went along to sample the new 'Summer Tasting Menu’.
Warmly greeted by Restaurant Manager Steve, we were seated
overlooking the gardens and immediately felt very welcome.
Whilst perusing the wine list, complimentary homemade breads
and amuse bouche arrived. Fresh warm homemade bread: curry
and raisin maple syrup glaze, lavender and honey and a plain
white sourdough served with three types of whipped butter:
salted, smoked and herb. Delicious. Amuse bouche was a tomato
essence and goats cheese vol au vent. All tasty and fresh.
To begin, we opted for the ‘tomato’ starter, a ripe heritage tomato
salad with shallots, green basil, borage, olive tapenade puree
and dehydrated tomato salt. Delicately crafted and beautifully
presented. We paired this starter with a French Provence ‘Rose’.
Our next choice was asparagus served with hazelnuts, aged
parmesan, air dried ham and first press olive oil – the flavour
combinations were really quite special.
Next up was the fresh mackerel served with a pickled relish,
cucumber gel, fresh leaves, flowers and horseradish snow. A
beautiful dish. We paired both of these starters with a glass of a
Spanish ‘Basa’, Telmo Rodriguez.
Finally the homemade black pudding served with Foie Gras,
golden raisins, apple puree and white wine jus. This dish was
exquisite. The black pudding is handmade by their new top
40 wirrallife.com
Chef Chris Hughes. Taking 48 hours to prepare – the result is
stunning! All credit to Chris. Paired with a French Chardonnay,
it just got even better!
For mains, we ordered the Pork Belly Roulade, (braised for 12
hours) served with potato, braised baby leeks, charred fennel,
breakfast relish, raisin jus, pickled carrot and a carrot puree.
Paired with a French Rose Henri Gaillard, Cotes De Provence.
Awesome. Our next main was the Beef Fillet, a confit bone
marrow, truffle potato, new season baby carrots, asparagus,
parsley jam and sweet shallots. Our final main was crayfish
served with samphire and pan fried red mullet. All mains were
staggeringly good and beautifully presented.
Although incredibly satisfied, we couldn’t resist the dessert menu.
First up was the ‘first season raspberries’, smoked cream, whisky
gel, oat crumble. Surprisingly light and sumptuous.
Next, macerated strawberries, strawberry sorbet, strawberry
puree, lemon balm, hazelnut tuile and dehydrated strawberries.
Just divine! Swiftly followed by a lemon tart with a lemon sherbet
foam, raspberries, dehydrated raspberries. Beautiful.
Overall, we highly recommend the Talbot Bar and Restaurant.
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